The Things We Keep Hidden
by Catalina H
Summary: A dark secret, long kept hidden, is revealed with terrifying consequences. sort of a crossover with NCIS. Takes place after 'Falling Apart: Secrets'. To understand, you should read the other stories in the series. Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or NCIS
1. Chapter 1

The Things We Keep Hidden...

Chapter 1

Everyone seemed on edge a lot. It had been over a month since Don had wrapped up his undercover assignment, but he was still acting different. Ande's nightmares had started again, and she was trying as hard as she could to keep anyone, other than Alex, from noticing. Alex was worried about his sister, she hadn't been like this for a long time, and he was also fighting against his own bitter memories, which he would talk about with an old friend of the family.

"OK, seriously what's going on with you two?," Don asked abruptly one night while they were eating. The twins exchanged a glance.

"Nothing," they replied in unison.

"Uh-huh, sure," Don said sarcastically. "So why have you guys been so quiet, and acting different?" They shared another glance.

"Well, what about you? Why have you been so quiet and acting different?," Ande countered.

"We're not talking about me," Don said, trying to change the subject back.

"Well, maybe we should be," she continued.

"OK, fine. How 'bout we talk about both?" Don was compromising now. Ande rolled her eyes, but Alex spoke up.

"That sounds like a good idea to me," he said pointedly toward Ande. She just scowled at him. "What? I'm tired of not talking!," Alex told his sister, getting aggravated that she didn't even want to talk anymore.

"Well, I'm not talking so get used to it. You guys can talk all you want, but leave me out of it," Ande told them bluntly, getting up and going back to her and Alex's bedroom.

"Ande, come on...," Don tried, but failed. She'd already gone. Alex let out an exasperated sigh.

"Just forget it," Alex told Don. "She won't listen to anyone anymore. Not when she gets like this." Alex felt defeated, again. Don was worried.

"Why? What do you mean 'when she gets like this'?," Don asked, knowing he was definitely missing something.

"Nothing, I didn't mean anything!," Alex said, getting aggravated with himself again. "Just forget it." Then Alex followed his sister, and went to bed.

_What the hell is going on with them?, _Don wondered after they'd gone. _She's not talking, and he's sounding more like her. Something's going on._ Don knew he wouldn't be able to figure it out tonight, so he gave up, got a beer and went into the living room to watch TV, which he fell asleep doing.

The next day while he was at work, Don's cell phone rang.

"Hello?," He answered. "Uh-huh...OK...Yeah, just..." He looked at his watch. "Give me 20/30 minutes?...OK yeah... see ya then."

When he got to the school Don knew exactly where to go. He'd had to pick Ande up four times in the past week, after she'd gotten into fights. And here he was again. When he walked into the principal's office Ande was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk, she didn't even look up at him.

"Mr. Eppes, have a seat," the principal said, motioning to the other chair by Ande. He sat down, and she continued. "OK, well, as my assistant told you on the phone, Ande was in yet another fight." She paused, and sighed, looking at Ande then back at Don. "That's the fifth one in a week. Now, obviously something is going on. I don't know whether it's problems at home or-"

"Wh-," Ande started to say something, sitting up out of her slouch, but Don slapped her arm and shook his head to tell her to not say anything. There was silence for a minute.

"Look, Ms. Peters what exactly are you saying?," Don asked. The principal just sighed.

"Well, I can see that apparently my insights after 20 years as principal are useless in this case." Don just stared at her, obviously confused. "I can see where she gets it," Ms. Peters clarified. Ande choked back a laugh, receiving a scowl from both the principal and Don. Ms. Peters ignored her and continued, "OK, under normal circumstances we'd probably just give some detention and some advice, and that'd be that. However, this is the fifth incident in a week." She looked over at Ande, who just stared back. "It's two weeks suspension."

"Two weeks?," Don asked in disbelief.

"That's right Mr. Eppes, two weeks," the principal replied with a very firm tone. "Now, I will see you in two weeks," she told Ande. She stood and held the door open. Don and Ande took the hint and left.

"Was this intentional or were you just being stupid?," Don asked as they got in the car.

"What's that suppose to mean?," Ande spat back. "You think I wanted to get suspended?"

"How the hell should I know?" Don was raising his voice now. He took a deep breath and looked over at her, much calmer now. "You don't talk to me, you hardly talk to Alex, and you barely sleep at all. How am I suppose to know what's going on in your head?" Ande just stared at him, she hadn't realized she was that transparent. When she didn't say anything, Don knew something was wrong. "OK, what's going on?" She looked away from him, but he turned her back. "Look, if you tell me, then maybe I can help," he told her, starting to worry now.

"I can't," she practically whispered. You could now see the concern on Don's face.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I mean I can't tell you."

"Why not?," he pressed. She sighed, but didn't say anything. He took the hint. "Fine, but if it's going to affect you this much, you're gonna have to tell me sooner or later."

"TWO WEEKS?" Alan was in disbelief after Don had told him what happened.

"Don't worry about it, dad. I've got it under control," Don replied calmly.

"Oh, yeah I can see that," Alan said sarcastically. Don rolled his eyes, then Alan turned serious. "Donnie, your seventeen year old daughter was just suspended from school for two weeks."

"I know, dad, I was there." Don was sarcastic now.

"Well, does that sound like it's under control to you?" Don looked at his father.

"Look, I'm handling it," Don said seriously.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I can't believe she suspended you for two week. I mean I know she hates you, but this is big! So, why is it I'm always the one who gets stuck staying in school?" Alex was trying not to laugh, but he found it hilarious when her attitude got her in trouble.

"Oh shut up!" Ande threw a pillow at his head.

"Oh come on, Ande, it's a little funny," he laughed as he tossed the pillow away. She just rolled her eyes at him, he could tell her mood so he turned serious. "OK, are they really that bad?," he asked her. She didn't look at him or respond, she knew what he was talking about, and she didn't want to talk about it.

Later on that night Don still hadn't got back from work, Alex was asleep, and Ande couldn't sleep. She decided to go hang out with some friends. She was careful not to wake Alex, knowing he'd try to stop her or tell Don, on her way out.

She went to the diner where her friends usually hung out. She stayed there for a couple hours, but her friends had to get home so she decided to go somewhere else. Ande didn't feel like going back to the apartment. She knew Don was going to be furious with her, especially since she didn't even tell Alex where she was going. She was walking around her old neighborhood when she felt someone following her. When she went down the alley, behind the video store she used to work, she'd hoped that she was just being paranoid.

She turned around and saw the man who had been following her turn in behind her. Her jaw dropped when she saw who it was. _Oh shit! _Ande thought. _What the hell is he doing here?? _She was starting to panic. Ande wasn't afraid of that much, but this guy did scare her. It was as if her nightmares were becoming real, and it terrified her.

"Alex," Don whispered, lightly shaking Alex to wake him up.

"What?," Alex groaned, barely awake.

"Where's Ande?" Alex was awake now. He looked over to see his sister's bed empty, and let out a sigh.

"Dammit!," Alex sighed in frustration. Don was worried now.

"She didn't even tell you she was going anywhere?," he asked, unable to hide his worry.

"She's probably still pissed at me, and knew I'd tell you where she was going," Alex explained.

"Why is she pissed at you?"

"Who knows," Alex said sarcastically.

"Do you have any idea where she went?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Don't worry about," Don told him. "Just go back to sleep, sorry I woke you." Alex nodded and fell right back to sleep. Don went in and turned the TV on, waiting for Ande to get home.

When he finally heard the door open and close, Don got up to go see where she'd been. Ande stumbled into the kitchen, when she saw Don come in she quickly turned away, hoping he wouldn't see.

"What the hell happened?," Don asked, concern filling his voice as he saw the dried blood on her shirt, and ran over to her.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she replied quickly, hoping he'd let it go. When he turned her around to look at her she winced.

"The hell you are. Now what happened?," he asked as he tried to see how badly she was hurt.

"Nothing, just forget it." She wasn't able to control her emotions as well as she would've liked. Don noticed she seemed panicked, and he'd never seen Ande panic before.

"Look, I can't just forget it. You're hurt, you need to see a doctor," he said firmly.

"No!," she replied just as firm. "Look, I'll be fine." She was trying to sound calm, so that he wouldn't notice her falling apart.

"Ande, you need to-" Don started, but the knock on the door made him stop. "Who the hell is it at this hour?," Don sighed as he started to head for the door, but he turned around to look at Ande first. "We're not done yet, so don't go anywhere." He turned back and went to go answer the door.

Ande took a deep breath, which hurt her ribs. She slid down the wall, barely keeping it together. She hadn't felt like this since the last time she'd seen the guy, although the last time was a whole lot worse. At least this time she hadn't ended up in the hospital, yet. She was still having a hard time dealing with what happened then, now she was on the verge of tears and she couldn't keep it together much longer.

"Who are you?," Don asked as he opened the door.

"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. Are you Don Eppes with the FBI?," Gibbs asked casually.

"Yeah, now what the hell are you doing at my apartment at 5 AM?," Don replied, losing his patience.

"Long story, why don-"

"Uncle Gibbs!," Alex interrupted. He'd heard the familiar voice when he had got up to go the bathroom, and he was surprised to see Gibbs here. Nevertheless, Alex ran over and hugged him.

"Hey kiddo!," Gibbs said, returning the hug.

"OK, what the hell is going on here?," Don asked, very confused.

"Gibbs was in the same unit as Uncle Johnny. Me and Ande were actually born on a marine base, mom was staying with Johnny till she found somewhere else," Alex explained.

"Hey Alex, why don't you give us a second to talk," Gibbs said, wanting to speak to Don anyway.

"Okay." Alex then went in the other room.

"Sorry I didn't explain that little bit of information first," Gibbs said, extending his hand, which Don shook.

"No problem, but that still doesn't explain what you're doing here at 5 in the morning," Don said, still slightly confused about what was going on.

"I need to talk to Ande," Gibbs told him.

"About what?" Don had an uneasy feeling about this.

"What are you doing here Gibbs?," Ande asked bluntly, surprising both Don and Gibbs, neither of whom had seen her there.

"About that," Gibbs told Don, pointing out Ande's injuries. He walked over to Ande without even a glance at Don. "What did I tell you?"

"Don't start this!," Ande warned him. "Why didn't you tell me he was back?"

"What the hell you think I'm doing here at 5 in the morning?!," Gibbs snapped back.

"OK, will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?," Don interrupted impatiently.

"She didn't tell you, did she?," Gibbs asked him.

"Tell me what?"

"Ask her, she needs to be the one to tell you who did this to her," Gibbs said calmly. Don looked at Ande, who was trying to keep herself together, and walked over to her.

"OK, now you need to tell me," Don told her, looking her in the eye. She shook her head, and started to turn away. Don grabbed her arm to stop her, she winced, and he let go. "That's why you need to tell me." She shook her head again, but didn't turn away. "Look, Ande I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

"What the-" Alex had heard the commotion and come back. When he saw his sister he put it all together. "Oh. Oh shit." Ande gave him a scowl, as if to tell him he was making things worse. "Don't give me that look," he said, trying to sound threatening, but then turned dismal. "It was Carl wasn't it?"

"Who's Carl?," Don asked, looking back and forth between Ande and Alex.

"He..." Ande and Alex were staring at each other. Her eyes were practically begging him to shut up, but he couldn't. He looked at her apologetically. "About 5 years ago he was mom's live-in boyfriend," Alex told Don, who took a deep breath.

"What happened?," he asked, this time directing his question to Ande, who wasn't as in control as she had been. Don thought he already knew the answer, but he was praying he was wrong.

Ande was starting to stutter, not able to form words, and not sure of how to explain it. She was losing control, and she knew it. She leaned back against the wall for support, and just slid down, unable to hold herself up any more. Gibbs saw her reaction and stepped in.

"We arrested him 4 years ago. Since he was an ex-Naval officer, it was NCIS jurisdiction. Yesterday he got away during transport. Nobody noticed till last night, that's when they called me," Gibbs explained. He anticipated Don's next question. "Yeah, he came back for her." Don looked back to Ande, who was barely keeping it together at this point.

"Ande...," Don started, bending down beside her. Gibbs motioned to Alex, and they went into the other room to give Don and Ande some privacy. "Ande, please..."

"I can't," she managed to get out. Don opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it. "You don't understand, I can't tell. I can't tell anyone." Ande saw the concerned look on Don's face. "I can't even bring myself to tell Alex, how am I suppose to tell you?"

_Oh geez. How can I help her when she's too scared to even tell me what happened? I've never seen her this terrified, hell, I've never even seen her terrified at all. What did this guy do to her? She's falling apart, and I don't know how to stop it., _Don was thinking as he was looking at Ande, trying desperately to figure out what to do. He took a few deep breaths before he said anything else.

"Ande..." He paused, still unsure of what to say. "Please...just tell me what happened so I can understand." She didn't say anything. "Please, Ande, I wanna help, but I don't know how. How can I help if I don't know what happened?," he asked her.

"I...I...I don't know," she stuttered. She closed her eyes and looked away. Ande hated being like this, and she especially hated it when she let people see her like this. Don sighed, he could tell she wasn't ready to tell him yet.

"OK, if you won't tell me what happened...will you at least let me take you to see a doctor?," he asked, trying to compromise. "You're hurt, Ande. You need to go to the hospital and get checked out." He was trying to play the dad card without her noticing, or objecting.

"Fine," she agreed hesitantly. She didn't want to go, but she was hurting, and she knew Don wasn't going to back off.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"So, how worried should I be?," Don asked Gibbs while the doctor was checking out Ande.

"Worried," Gibbs stated simply, taking a swig of his coffee.

"What exactly happened?"

"I told you, Ande should be the one to tell you."

"Yeah she should, but she's not telling me. She's not talking about it at all. So why don't you tell me, then maybe I'll have a clue about what's going on," Don said impatiently. Gibbs turned and looked him in the eye, sizing him up.

"Yep, Sarah was right." He half-smiled.

"Oh yeah, about what?"

"Ande gets it from you." This time Don half-smiled.

"So, does that mean you're gonna tell me?"

"Nope." Don started to protest, but the doctor came out then.

"OK, so do you want the good news or the bad news?," the doctor asked Don.

"How 'bout the good."

"Okay, the good news is there are no broken bones or internal injuries."

"And the bad?"

"Looking at her chart, this isn't the first time." Don glanced at Gibbs before turning back to the doctor. "That means that these injuries will probably take longer to heal."

"How bad is it?"

"Well, she's got a few bruised ribs, which are going to hurt for a while. Other than that, just some minor cuts and bruises."

"Thanks doc," Don told him.

"No problem. She can go home after a little paperwork."

"Thanks." The doctor smiled, and left.

"See, told you I was fine," Ande told Don when he came in the room. He smiled, happy she at least seemed to be acting like herself.

"What, I can't worry?," he joked back. She smiled.

"It gets annoying you know." She was glad he seemed more relaxed, but she knew he wasn't going to avoid the subject for long.

"Yeah, I know," Don agreed, knowing he didn't like it when his dad worried about him either. "Look, Ande -" She held her hand up to stop him though.

"Can it wait till later?," she asked. "I'm tired, and I really don't feel like talking about it now." Don sighed.

"You know we have to, right?"

"I know," she said sorrowfully.

"Alright, we'll go home, and you can get some sleep, but after that...," he trailed off.

"OK," she agreed, hoping maybe it would be easier after she slept.

"Ande?...Ande!," Alex said, waking Ande up out of her nightmare. She shot straight up in the bed, which hurt her ribs, when she woke up to hear Alex. The nightmare had been ten times worse this time, probably since she had a fresh memory to fuel it. It had been so real, she'd woken up in a cold sweat and realized she had tears running down her face. That was probably what had scared Alex, he hadn't seen her cry in a long time. She was very good at hiding her emotions, even from her brother.

"I'm fine," she told him, trying to sound convincing. She didn't want to scare him, she'd worked so hard to keep this away from him and she didn't want to ruin that.

"You don't look fine." She saw his face and knew she couldn't keep lying to him.

"You're right. I'm not fine. But Alex, I-," she started, but he cut her off.

"I know." He smiled. "You're trying to protect me." She smiled back.

"I just never want anything to happen to you. I hate seeing you hurt," she told him. Alex knew she was telling the truth, Ande had been looking out for him their entire lives. He wanted to help her now, but he had no clue how.

"The feeling's mutual," he said, trying to comfort her.

"I know." She smiled at him, then hugged him tight.

"OK, so what do we know so far?" Don and his team, along with Gibbs and DiNozzo, one of Gibbs' team who had arrived a few hours ago, were trying to find Carl.

"Well, it would help if I could put together a profile, but we don't know what happened last time. So I'm not sure how to assess him because I can't understand his fixation on Ande," Megan said. Don stared pointedly at Gibbs, then turned back.

"Yeah well, Ande's not talking yet."

"Well, do you think he'd go after Alex too?," David asked.

"No." Everyone turned around to see Ande standing in the doorway. "He won't go after Alex, just me," she told them.

"Why not?," Colby asked her.

"Because I kept him away from Alex," Ande told them bluntly. "I made sure he never went after him. Al doesn't know anything other than speculation."

"How'd you manage that? From what I can tell this guy will go after anybody," DiNozzo asked.

"Not necessarily,Tony," she answered, looking over at him, then back at Don. "Only people who get in his way." Don was staring at her, trying to figure out what to say.

"So, how do we find him?," David asked, diverting their attention.

"We don't," Gibbs stated, walking over to Ande. "He'll find her." Gibbs and Ande were staring at each other.

"We're not using her as bait, Gibbs," Don warned.

"We don't have a choice," he responded. He then took out his backup gun from the holster on his right ankle, and held it out for Ande. "You remember what I told you?," he asked her. She looked fragile, but took a deep breath.

"Shoot between the eyes," she said calmly, taking the gun from him. She checked it over quickly, then concealed it at her waist.

"Don't hesitate," Gibbs warned her.

"I know," she sighed. "I do, I'm dead." Don looked mortified at what was going on.

"What the hell you think you're doing Gibbs?," Don asked threateningly.

"Making sure she doesn't make the same mistake twice," Gibbs answered, in an equally threatening tone. "He almost killed her last time, this time he's not gonna settle for almost." Don looked over at Ande, who was trying to keep herself together.

"You ready to tell me yet?," Don asked as he walked over to his frightened daughter. She swallowed.

"Last time...Last time it started out like last night," she started, hoping she could keep herself together. "But then it escalated." She paused, telling it was harder than she'd thought, especially to Don. "He ended up stabbing me, but I'd grabbed his gun out of the closet...I shot him, but he survived." This was hard for Don to hear, but he knew it was harder for Ande to tell. "I flatlined for two minutes during surgery, and I was in a coma for three weeks."

"Ande..." Don wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how.

"I swore if I ever saw him again, I'd shoot the son of a bitch in the head." She was getting angry just at the thought of him. "But last night, I wasn't near a gun."

"Hey...," Don started, wrapping his arms around her. "It's okay, everything is going to be okay," Don said, trying to comfort her. Ande was starting to shake, but Don held her for a few minutes till she was able to calm down more.

Gibbs whispered something to Tony, and then left. Don noticed.

"I'll be right back, OK?," he told Ande. She nodded, then Don followed Gibbs into the elevator.

"We need to talk," Don said to Gibbs as the elevator doors closed. Gibbs shut off the elevator, for privacy.

"So, talk."

"What the hell you think you're doing giving her a gun?"

"Don't worry she's a good shot," Gibbs joked. Don wasn't laughing though.

"I know she's a good shot. She's a better shot than most of the people in this building, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna arm her and tell her to shoot the guy in the head."

"Look," Gibbs started exasperatedly. "This guy is not gonna stop until one of them is dead."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"You're letting her carry a gun?" Alan asked in disbelief. "Isn't that just like begging her to kill the guy?"

"That's not gonna happen," Don reassured his father. "It's just for protection. Don't worry so much." Don knew it was probably useless, but he was still trying to put his father's mind at ease.

"Don't worry?" Alan was staring at his son. "That's just great," he said sarcastically. "Donnie, you gave a gun to a very angry teenager! How am I not supposed to worry about it? Can you honestly say Ande having a gun doesn't worry you at all?"

Don didn't answer, he just stood there looking at his father. He was worried. But he didn't want to let it show too much.

"That's what I thought," Alan said, Don took a deep breath.

"Look, dad, if I thought there was another way..." Don looked his father in the eye. "I'd take it." Alan sighed. "The fact is, though, Gibbs is right. This guy's not gonna stop. And I'm not about to risk her life because I don't like the idea of giving her a gun."

Alan didn't say anything. He knew Don was right, but he still didn't like it.

"Besides, she's a better shot than I am," Don joked, trying to lighten the mood. Alan scowled at him. Don took the hint. "Ok, sorry... but it is true." He received another scowl. Don just smiled. "OK, fine. Look, I already talked to Charlie, and Alex is gonna go with him after school, then they'll come over here."

"You sure he won't try to come after Alex too?" Alan asked seriously.

"Ande doesn't think so."

"You believe her?"

"She was pretty sure. And I don't think he ever has before, so yeah I believe her. Megan agrees too."

"Hey," Don said as he got back to the office.

"So?" Ande asked.

Everyone else was off doing something else. The only people in the room, other than Don and Ande, were Megan and Tony, who were discussing something, fairly oblivious to the conversation Don and Ande were having.

"Alex is going to stay with Charlie after school." Ande just nodded. "You okay?" Don asked as he sat down by her.

"Yeah."

"You're lying." He could tell she was still hiding something.

"Yeah, but did you really expect me to be okay?"

"No," he answered honestly. He saw the look on her face. "So what's wrong?"

"He lied."

"Who lied?"

"Alex."

"About what?" Don wasn't sure where this was going.

"He's a lot more like you than he lets on," she told him.

"What are you talking about?" He was confused.

"He used to play baseball. He was actually pretty good." Ande chuckled to herself at the memory.

"So, why didn't he tell me himself?" Don still wasn't sure where this was going.

"Because he quit." Ande finally looked up at him. "He feels guilty."

"Why?" She took a deep breath before answering.

"Carl was his little league coach. That's how mom met him." Don understood now. "And Alex won't listen to me when I tell him it's not his fault." They stared at each other for a minute before Don started smiling. "What?" Ande asked, slightly confused.

"Are you actually asking for my help with something?" he asked.

"What? No, no that's not -" she started stuttering.

"Uh-huh," he said sarcastically, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. "You never stop surprising me." She smiled at this.

Tony and Megan were watching now. They both started smiling as they watched Don and Ande. They just looked at each other and sighed.

"Three peas in a pod," Megan stated.

"Who's the... Oh." Tony had almost forgotten Alex. "They really seem happy, don't they?" he asked looking back over at Don and Ande.

"Yeah, I think they are," Megan replied. "They seem to understand each other's moods pretty well too. They can tell whether or not something's wrong." She saw Tony's look. "What I mean is, I think Don always suspected something. He knew they weren't telling him everything, and he knew Ande was hiding something."

"Well, I can say this..." Tony started. "She definitely seems a lot happier. I think Ande and Alex always needed their father, even if they didn't want to admit it." He turned back to what they were working on. "But I will tell you one thing." Megan looked interested. "She's got balls."

"What do you mean?" she asked, curious.

"She's not afraid to stand up to Gibbs." Megan cracked a smile. "And she's one of the few people who can get away with it."

"What about you?" Tony just stared at her. "Can you get away with it?"

"No," Gibbs answered, smacking DiNozzo on the back of the head. Megan just laughed.


	5. Author's Note

Okay, I've kind of lost my inspiration to these stories. I do remember what I was going to have happen, but I just don't feel inspired. And that's what makes my stories good, at least to me. So, unless you've got some suggestions or post reviews that inspire me, this story is abandoned.

If I get some inspiration I might start writing on it again, but otherwise it's just done.

I will probably have a similar story up soon, if you're interested check my author page, it should be there soon.

Thanks to all who read and enjoyed! Hope you liked it, sorry to leave you hanging, but I'm just not into for now. Thanks though, and feel free to check out my other stories!


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